The Trump administration doesn't like safe injection sites, but it's down with needle exchanges. (Creative Commons)

Marijuana Policy

New Jersey Legalization Bills Advance. Marijuana legalization bills advanced in the legislature Monday. The Assembly Appropriations Committee approved A 4497, while the Senate Judiciary Committee approved its companion measure, S 2703. The victories come a week after Gov. Phil Murphy (D) and legislative leaders reached an agreement on what legalization should look like. Final floor votes could come as early as next Monday.

Oregon Initiative Would Allow Indoor Pot Smoking, Protect Workers. Marijuana industry leaders have filed an initiative, the Legalization Justice Act of 2020, which would, among other things, allow for social consumption spaces, provide protections for workers who use marijuana off the job, and urge the state to protect its homegrown marijuana industry. Now, organizers must collect 1,000 signatures before the secretary of state's office drafts a ballot title. Once that step is completed, organizers will then have to gather 112,000 valid voter signatures to qualify for the November 2020 ballot.

Pennsylvania Legalization Bill Details Announced. State Sens. Daylin Leach (D) and Sharif Street (D) have released details of their pending legalization bill. The measure would allow for social consumption sites and the home cultivation of up to six plants. A tax rate has not been set, but the goal is a rate that "balances the need to undermine any illegal market and the needs to both pay for regulation of the industry and invest in those harmed by prohibition." There would be no cap on marijuana business licenses and their would be a tiered licensing system to help communities adversely affected by the war on drugs.

Medical Marijuana

Florida Governor Signs Smokable Medical Marijuana Bill into Law. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Monday signed into law SB 182, which ends a legislatively-mandated ban on smoking medical marijuana. The ban had been thrown out in the courts, but former Gov. Rick Scott (R) had appealed to reinstate it. DeSantis had threatened to drop the appeal if the legislature didn't act, but the legislature has acted and now the ban is dead.

Asset Forfeiture

Arkansas Legislature Approves Asset Forfeiture Reform. The House last week unanimously approved SB 308, which will require police and prosecutors to win a criminal conviction in most cases before they can seize someone's property. The Senate approved it last month. It now is on the desk of Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R).

Harm Reduction

Trump Administration Backs Needle Exchange. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Tuesday the Trump administration is backing needle exchange programs as part of its effort to end HIV transmission but will continue to oppose safe injection sites. The move represents a policy shift among Republicans, who have traditionally opposed needle exchanges, but Azar said they were necessary: "Syringe services programs aren’t necessarily the first thing that comes to mind when you think about a Republican health secretary, but we’re in a battle between sickness and health, between life and death," Azar said.

By its very nature, the global drug prohibition regime relies on the repressive apparatus of state actors to enforce compliance, and that has severe implications for human rights. Now, a coalition of United Nations member states, U.N. bodies, and leading human rights experts has launched a landmark set of international legal standards aimed at putting human rights concerns at the center of drug policy.

Drug execution in Iran, 2017. The Islamic Republic has greatly reduced the use of the death penalty for drugs. (handsoffcain)

The human rights implications of the global war on drugs cover a dizzying array of governmental abuses of their citizens. Whether it's the mass imprisonment of drug users in the US, the death squad-style atrocities of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody anti-drug campaigns, the spraying of herbicides on coca-growing peasants in Colombia, forced drug treatment camps in Southeast Asia, or the resort to the death penalty for drug offenses in any number of countries, the quixotic global effort to eradicate drugs has left a trail of human rights abuses.

For years, human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have championed the need to put human rights front and center when it comes to drug policy. But with the issuance this week of the International Guidelines on Human Rights and Drug Policy recognition of the necessary centrality of human rights moves from the sidelines to the very center of the global drug prohibition regime. Released under the aegis of the U.N. Development Program and the Joint U.N. Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) with the endorsement of key member states, the guidelines create a comprehensive set of human rights standards to guide governments in developing drug policies that comply with basic standards of universal human rights.

They also come at a key juncture in the global drug policy-formation process. The guidelines are being released as high-level governmental representatives are gathered at the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna to shape a new global drug strategy. With decades of evidence showing the systemic failures of the punitive paradigm, including widespread human rights violations, the U.N. and member states are facing a rising clamor for a shift in policy -- one that not only respects human rights but also places global drug policy in line with broader U.N. objectives.

"Drug control policies intersect with much of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the pledge by Member States to leave no one behind. Approaches that violate human rights and fail to curb the illicit drug trade are leaving a trail of human suffering," said Mandeep Dhaliwal, director of UNDP's HIV, Health and Development Group. "For countries who are ready to place human dignity and sustainable development at the heart of their drug control policy, these guidelines offer valuable guidance to promote more effective and humane drug control policy."

universal human rights logo

One focus of the guidelines is criminal justice and the rule of law, and they feature recommendations across the realm of the administration of justice. Whether it's arbitrary arrest and detention, discriminatory policing practices, or drug decriminalization, the guidelines bring the global state of human rights law regarding drug policy into full view, including ending the death penalty for drug-related offenses.

Drug decriminalization gets particular attention. The guidelines note that at least 25 national governments have decriminalized the possession of drugs for personal use and that the U.N. system has jointly called for drug decriminalization as an alternative to arrest, conviction, and punishment of drug users.

"Punishment and exclusion have been instrumental to the war on drugs" said Judy Chang, Executive Director of the International Network of People who Use Drugs. "The time has come to privilege human dignity over social isolation and champion human rights, putting an end to the shameful legacy of mass incarceration."

But the guideline encompass more than criminal justice; they also make clear that a human rights emphasis is key in improving people's rights to health, an adequate standard of living, and to be free from torture. The guidelines say that states are obligated by their health obligations to ensure the availability and accessibility of harm reduction services, such as needle exchanges and safe consumption spaces. Those services must be adequately funded, appropriate for the needs of vulnerable groups, and respectful of the human dignity of their clients, the guidelines say.

"Ninety-nine percent of people who inject drugs do not have adequate access to harm reduction services and are left behind in progress against HIV," said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. "More than 12 percent of people who inject drugs are living with HIV and over half have hepatitis C. The only way to advance progress is to put people at the center, not drugs."

The guidelines also emphasize the importance of protecting the rights of farming communities -- especially women -- even to the extent of urging governments to temporarily permit the cultivation of illicit drug crops to allow farmers the chance to make a smooth transition to alternative crops. They cite Thailand's success in helping farmers move from opium production to alternative livelihoods.

Issuance of the guidelines will help member states, multilateral organizations, and civil society in their fight to help the rights-supporting U.N. Charter and Universal Declaration of Human Rights assume their deserved central role in the formulation of both international and national drug policies. For too long, globally accepted human rights standards have been sidelined by repressive approaches.

"Human rights should not just inform critiques of the response to drugs worldwide, they should also be the main drivers of its reform, underpinning checks and balances to break cycles of abuse" said Julie Hannah, Director of the International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy, University of Essex "Fighting inequality and injustice is a more effective way of addressing the global drug problem than prisons and police."

A New Mexico pot legalization bill dies and the governor says she will take it up next year, Minneapolis will quit charging small-time pot offenders, UN bodies and member states issue drug war human rights guidelines, a federal prisoner sues for access to methadone treatment, and more.

The state of New Jersey is banking on marijuana tax revenues. Now, to get that bill passed. (Creative Commons)

Marijuana Policy

Connecticut Democrats Unveil Legalization Package. A group of House Democrats held a press conference last Thursday to unveil a proposed package go bills to allow marijuana to be grown, processed, and sold to consumers in the state. The draft bills include a pilot plan for adult sales, but do not include letting people grow their own.

New Jersey Legalization Committee Votes Begin Today. The compromise legalization bill agreed to by Gov. Phil Murphy (D) and legislative leaders is due for committee votes Monday, with an eye toward final passage next Monday if all goes well. The bill would allow adults to possess up to an ounce, but not grow their own. It would also expunge records of past pot offenses and set up a system of taxed and regulated marijuana commerce.

New Mexico Governor Adds Marijuana Legalization to 2020 Agenda. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Sunday she will add marijuana legalization to the agenda of next year’s 30-day short session. The move comes after a bipartisan marijuana legalization bill managed to pass the House this session, only to be stalled in the Senate until the session expired on Saturday.

Minnesota’s Most Populous County Won’t Charge Small-Time Pot Offenders. Prosecutors in Hennepin County, the home of Minneapolis, will no longer prosecute people caught with small amounts of pot, County Attorney Mike Freeman said last Thursday. Under state law, possession of up to 42.5 grams is a misdemeanor, but possession of as little as 45 grams can be charged as a felony. Freeman said he will no longer charge anyone caught with less than 100 grams; instead, defendants will be considered for a diversion program.

Medical Marijuana

Missouri Posts Draft Rules for Medical Marijuana Program. The Department of Health and Senior Services released more drafts of rules for the state's emerging medical marijuana system last Thursday. The rules cover marijuana cultivation facilities, manufacturing facilities and medical marijuana establishments in general. Click on the link for a detailed analysis of the proposed regulations.

Oklahoma Governor Signs Medical Marijuana Rules into Law. Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) last Thursday signed into law new regulations for the state’s nascent medical marijuana industry. The legislation sets guidelines for inventory testing and tracking, advertising, and packaging and labeling, among other things. It also allows employers to fire medical marijuana users in certain safety-sensitive positions, such as fire fighters and heavy machinery operators.

Hemp

Idaho Hemp Bill Moving. A bill to legalize hemp production, HB 122, passed out of a pair of committees last Thursday and is now headed for a House floor vote. The 2018 farm bill legalized hemp production, and 41 other states have already legalized hemp production.

Psychedelics

Oakland Psychedelic Decriminalization Initiative in Planning Stages. A coalition of advocacy groups in hosting a series of meetings in coming months aimed at building support for an initiative to decriminalize not only magic mushrooms but all “entheogenic plants, fungi, and natural sources.” The campaign is called Decriminalize Nature.

Drug Treatment

Incoming Federal Prisoner Sues Over Policy Banning Methadone Treatment. A Massachusetts woman who is about to enter federal prison and will not be permitted to continue methadone treatment for opioid addiction under prison rules has filed a lawsuit against the federal Bureau of Prisons over the policy. Stephanie DiPierro has to do a year for collecting disability benefits and food stamps without reporting income from a job and has been on methadone since 2005.

Philippines Quits International Criminal Court Over Drug War Investigation. A year after the Philippines told the United Nations it was quitting the world’s only permanent war crimes tribunal because it is investigating human rights abuses in the bloody war on drugs led by President Rodrigo Duterte it has now officially withdrawn from the International Criminal Court. Manila moved to quit after the body launched a preliminary examination in 2018 into President Rodrigo Duterte's drug crackdown that has killed thousands and drawn international censure. However, the ICC said its preliminary investigation into Filipino drug war abuses would continue.

Florida is about to get smokable medical marijuana, Earl Blumenauer reintroduces his perennial veterans medical marijuana bill, a New Mexico medical marijuana expansion bill is moving, and more.

National

Earl Blumenauer Reintroduces Veterans Medical Marijuana Bill. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) is back once again with a bill that would allow doctors at the Veterans Administration to recommend medical marijuana to veterans. HB 1647 is similar to bills that Blumenauer has sponsored for the past several years but were blocked by intransigent House Republican leaders. This year, though, the Democrats control the House.

Arkansas

Arkansas Senate Committee Votes to Restrict Edible and Drinkable Medical Marijuana. The Senate Public Health Committee voted Wednesday to approve SB 440, which was originally written to ban the manufacture or sale of medical marijuana edibles or potables. But the bill as passed by the committee was amended to not ban such products, but to require legislative changes that will mandate a cumbersome regulatory process the industry doesn’t want.

Florida

Florida Senate Approves Bill Allowing Smokable Medical Marijuana. The Senate last Thursday overwhelmingly approved SB 182, which would repeal the legislature's ban on smokable medical marijuana. The effort is being pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who has vowed to act if the legislature fails to. The measure now goes to the House, which must approve it by Friday or DeSantis will drop the state's appeal of a lower court ruling ending the ban.

Florida Bill to Allow Smokable Medical Marijuana Heads to Governor’s Desk. With a final vote in the House Wednesday, the legislature has approved SB 182, which repeals a prior legislative ban on smokable medical marijuana. Former Gov. Rick Scott (R) had supported the ban, appealing a lower court decision to end it, but current Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) had urged the legislature to end it, vowing to end the state’s appeal if lawmakers didn’t act by the end of this week.

Michigan Adds Cerebral Palsy to List of Qualifying Conditions. The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs announced Monday that it had added cerebral palsy to the list of qualifying conditions to use medical marijuana. It rejected adding chronic aggressive behavior after panel members unanimously recommended denial.

New Mexico

New Mexico Medical Marijuana Access Expansion Bill Passes Senate. The Senate on Monday approved SB 406, which would allow for onsite consumption of medical marijuana at dispensaries, allow people living on Indian land to grow their own, and create civil protections for patients for schooling, child custody, and medical care. A similar bill was vetoed by Gov. Susana Martinez (R) last year, but she’s gone now.

Microdosing -- ingesting very small doses of psychedelic drugs -- has emerged as a popular pastime among Silicon Valley types and harried executives on both coasts, who have claimed anecdotally that it boosts creativity and helps them function more effectively.

A little dab'll do ya. (Creative Commons)

Now, for the first time, comes some hard scientific evidence that microdosing really can be beneficial. In a new, peer-reviewed study in the journal Chemical Neuroscience, researchers at the University of California -- Davis fed small doses of the psychedelics to lab rats and found that microdosing can have positive impacts on mental health.

"This is the first time anyone has demonstrated in animals that psychedelic microdosing might actually have some beneficial effects, particularly for depression or anxiety," David Olson, assistant professor in the UC Davis departments of Chemistry and of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, who led the research team said in a press release.

In the study, the researchers used the powerful hallucinogen dimethyltryptamine (DMT), which they said was appropriate because its "molecular structure is embedded within the structures of popular microdosing drugs such as LSD and psilocybin." Every three days for three weeks, hey gave the rats one-tenth of the dose that would bring on a psychedelic trip. At the end of the three weeks, researchers found that the animals overcame their "fear response" in a test measuring anxiety and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and also seemed to be less immobile in a test measuring antidepressant effects.

"Prior to our study, essentially nothing was known about the effects of psychedelic microdosing on animal behaviors," Olson said. "Our study demonstrates that psychedelics can produce beneficial behavioral effects without drastically altering perception, which is a critical step towards producing viable medicines inspired by these compounds."

In other words, you don't have to trip to get the benefits of psychedelics.

It wasn't all good news, though. Researchers found some potential problems: Male rats who microdosed showed significant increases in body weight, while females showed signs of neuronal atrophy.

"It's exciting, but the potentially adverse changes in neuronal structure and metabolism that we observe emphasize the need for additional studies," Olson said. The changes in female neuronal structure were particularly puzzling, he said, because those changes did not occur when female rats took larger doses. That could suggest that acute hallucinogenic doses and repeated microdoses produced different biochemical and structural phenotypes, he said.

The study suggests there is indeed a biochemical basis for some of the positive effects of microdosing reported in less scientifically rigorous studies of humans, such as the study by Canadian researchers who found microdosers scored higher on measures of mental health and well-being.

"We found that microdosers scored higher on measures of wisdom, open-mindedness and creativity," reported researchers Thomas Anderson of the University of Toronto and Rotem Petranker of York University. "Microdosers also scored lower on measures of dysfunctional attitudes and negative emotionality, which is very promising."

That study recruited microdosers from Reddit communities, but did not include trials with placebos, so more research to validate the results is needed, the researchers conceded.

"As promising as they seem, we don't know whether microdosing actually caused any of these differences," they reported. "Maybe people with better mental health were more likely to experiment with microdosing, or perhaps there is some unknown cause that made people both more likely to microdose and to be creative."

But this month's UC-Davis rat study strongly suggests that it is the microdosing -- and not other variables -- that accounts for the difference.

This article was produced by Drug Reporter, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

A bipartisan bill would protect federal workers in legal marijuana states from being fired for positive pot drug tests is filed, both chambers of the New York legislature put legal marijuana in their budget proposals, and more.

Florida medical marijuana patients will soon be able to smoke their medicine. (IRIN)

Arkansas Senate Committee Votes to Restrict Edible and Drinkable Medical Marijuana. The Senate Public Health Committee voted Wednesday to approve SB 440, which was originally written to ban the manufacture or sale of medical marijuana edibles or potables. But the bill as passed by the committee was amended to not ban such products, but to require legislative changes that will mandate a cumbersome regulatory process the industry doesn’t want.

Florida Bill to Allow Smokable Medical Marijuana Heads to Governor’s Desk. With a final vote in the House Wednesday, the legislature has approved SB 182, which repeals a prior legislative ban on smokable medical marijuana. Former Gov. Rick Scott (R) had supported the ban, appealing a lower court decision to end it, but current Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) had urged the legislature to end it, vowing to end the state’s appeal if lawmakers didn’t act by the end of this week.

Today's lesson: Don't piss off you wife if you're a narc taking home dope in evidence bags and doing it. Plus, a Border Patrol agent goes to prison, a North Carolina narc gets probation for pilfering cash, and more. Let's get to it:

In Alice, Texas, a Jim Wells County narcotics investigator was suspended last Thursday after his wife accused him of wrongdoing. Narcotics Investigator Lt. Ernie Rivera and his wife got in a domestic dispute, and when Alice police arrived, she told them Rivera used drugs and led them to a closet where they found an evidence bag containing drugs. She told police Rivera would confiscate drugs and bring them home for personal use. Rivera was not arrested.

In Freehold Borough, New Jersey, a Monmouth County probation was arrested last month for allegedly repeatedly sexually assaulting a drug court probationer under his supervision over a two-year period. Probation Officer Henry Cirignano is accused of extorting sex from the victim more than a hundred times by threatening to tell the court she had violated her probation if she refused. He went down because he communicated some of his threats via text messages, which the victim saved.

In Hollywood, Florida, a Miami-Dade corrections officer was arrested last Friday after she was caught selling large amounts of heroin laced with fentanyl near a grade school. Officer Adina Spry was caught with more than 65 grams of heroin and fentanyl, as well as cocaine, methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, a credit card skimming device, and a gun. She is charged with selling heroin within 1,000 feet of a school, trafficking fentanyl, possession of cocaine, possession of methamphetamine, and possession of a credit card skimming device. At least report, she was still in jail on a $100,000 cash bond.

In Chicago, a former Chicago police officer was convicted Monday of ripping off drug dealers. Eddie Hicks, 70, had fled trial 15 years, but was arrested in 2017 in Detroit. Prosecutors described him as the ringleader of a five-man crew who posed as federal agents to shake down drug dealers for cash and drugs. He was convicted of racketing, drug, and gun charges, as well as jumping bail before trial in 2003.

In Progreso, Texas, a former Progreso police sergeant was convicted last Wednesday of providing information to drug trafficking organizations. Giovanni Hernandez, 45, went down in an undercover operation where an informant solicited his assistance in moving dope thrown the town. Hernandez ended up scouting for the drug traffickers to help allow a vehicle he thought was loaded with cocaine make its way through the city. He was found guilty of two counts of aiding and abetting the attempt to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine. He’s looking at a minimum of 10 years in federal prison.

In San Diego, a former Border Patrol agent was sentenced last Friday to nine years in federal prison for taking bribes from drug traffickers. Robert Hall, 45, had admitted accepting $5,000 bribes to help traffickers bring loads of marijuana across the border and pleaded guilty to one count of bribery.

Alaska gives final approval for on-site consumption at pot shops, San Francisco approves pot smoking at events where people like to smoke pot, President Trump ponders designating Mexican cartels as terrorists, South Dakota legislators come up short in a bid to override the veto of a hemp bill, and more.

The drug czar's office is on the budgetary cutting block again.

Marijuana Policy

Alaska Social Consumption Gets Final Approval. Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer (R) Tuesday signed off on new regulations allowing on-site marijuana use in retail pot shops, the final step in approving social consumption in the state. This makes Alaska the first state to approve such use statewide. Consumers can’t bring their own but will have to purchase the pot on-site and consumption areas will have to be ventilated and separated from other parts of the store. The first on-site consumption should come by mid-July, state officials said.

New York Black Lawmakers Won’t Vote for Legalization Without Racial Equity. Black lawmakers are demanding that racial equity provisions be written into any legalization bill or they won’t vote for it. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) mentioned racial injustice in pot law enforcement in calling for legalization, but lawmakers representing minority communities say his proposal doesn’t go far enough in addressing how racial inequities would be repaired.

San Francisco to Allow Pot Smoking at Events Where People Like to Smoke Pot. Seems like common sense. The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to create a special permit to allow people to sell and smoke marijuana at public events that have traditionally seen a lot of pot smoking, such as the 4/20 celebration on Hippie Hill and the Outside Lands music festival, both in Golden Gate Park. The ordinance gives the Office of Cannabis the authority to grant temporary waivers to the city’s tough no-smoking laws.

Hemp

South Dakota Lawmakers Fall Short on Bid to Override Hemp Bill Veto. After Gov. Kristi Noem (R) vetoed a bill to legalize industrial hemp production over the weekend, lawmakers sought to override the veto. In votes Tuesday, the House supported the override on a 55-11 vote, but the Senate came up short, voting 20-13 to override when it needed 24 votes to be successful.

Drug Policy

Trump’s Drug Budget Again Slashes Funding for Drug Czar’s Office. For the second year in a row, the White House’s proposed drug budget for Fiscal Year 2020 virtually zeroes out funding for the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP—the drug czar’s office). Congress restored the funding for ONDCP last year, allotting it slightly more than $120 million, about the same as the previous year. But this year’s proposed budget allocates only $14.9 million.

Foreign Policy

Trump Thinking “Very Seriously” About Designating Mexican Drug Cartels as Terrorists. In an interview published Tuesday in Breitbart News, President Trump is thinking “very seriously” about designating Mexican drug cartels as terrorists. "We are. We are," Trump said. "We're thinking about doing it very seriously. In fact, we've been thinking about it for a long time. . . . As terrorists - as terrorist organizations, the answer is yes. They are."

Harm Reduction

North Carolina Senate Approves Good Samaritan Expansion Bill. The Senate on Tuesday approved a bill, SB 106, that would clarify the state’s 2013 Good Samaritan law to specify that the people who actually suffer drug overdoses have the same legal immunity from criminal charges as the people who call for help. The bill now heads to the House.

Marijuana and medical marijuana bills are seeing action in the states, South Dakota's governor vetoes an industrial hemp bill, a key UN organization calls for global drug decriminalization, and more.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) says he has reached an agreement with key legislators to legalize weed by month's end. (CC)

Marijuana Policy

Colorado Bill to Allow Social Consumption Filed. State Rep. Jonathan Singer (D) and cosponsors filed House Bill 1230 last Friday. The bill would pave the way for legal marijuana “tasting rooms” beginning in January. The bill would also allow hotels, spas, and other businesses to apply for cannabis licenses. A similar bill was vetoed by Gov. John Hickenlooper last year, but now the governor is the more marijuana-friendly Jared Polis.

New Jersey Governor, Key Lawmakers Announce Agreement on Legalization Bill. Gov. Phil Murphy (D) and legislative leaders announced Tuesday that they had reached agreement on a bill to legalize marijuana. They also announced that they planned to pass the bill on March 25. "I believe that this legislation will establish an industry that brings fairness and economic opportunity to all of our communities while promoting public safety by ensuring a safe product and allowing law enforcement to focus their resources on serious crimes," the governor said.

New York Legalization Bid Hits Bump. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Monday that it is now unlikely that marijuana legalization will be included in the state budget, which is due this month, suggesting that there are roadblocks remaining on the path to legalization. "I’m no longer confident marijuana will be done in the budget," Cuomo told reporters at the Capitol, adding that legislative leaders are still far apart on a path forward. "I’ve had discussions with them on it. There is a wide divide on marijuana. I believe ultimately we can get there, and we must get there," he said. "I don’t believe we get there in two weeks. And also that’s what the legislative leaders have said."

Earl Blumenauer Reintroduces Veterans Medical Marijuana Bill. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) is back once again with a bill that would allow doctors at the Veterans Administration to recommend medical marijuana to veterans. HB 1647 is similar to bills that Blumenauer has sponsored for the past several years but were blocked by intransigent House Republican leaders. This year, though, the Democrats control the House.

Michigan Adds Cerebral Palsy to List of Qualifying Conditions. The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs announced Monday that it had added cerebral palsy to the list of qualifying conditions to use medical marijuana. It rejected adding chronic aggressive behavior after panel members unanimously recommended denial.

New Mexico Medical Marijuana Access Expansion Bill Passes Senate. The Senate on Monday approved SB 406, which would allow for onsite consumption of medical marijuana at dispensaries, allow people living on Indian land to grow their own, and create civil protections for patients for schooling, child custody, and medical care. A similar bill was vetoed by Gov. Susana Martinez (R) last year, but she’s gone now.

Hemp

South Dakota Governor Vetoes Hemp Bill. Gov. Kristi Noem (R) on Monday vetoed HB 1191, which would have legalized industrial hemp production in the state. In her veto message, she said it could be a first step toward legalizing marijuana and that it could make law enforcement’s job more difficult. The bill passed the House overwhelmingly but passed the Senate by a margin just short of veto-proof. It’s not clear yet whether the legislature will attempt an override.

International

Key UN Organization Calls for Global Drug Decriminalization. The UN Chief Executives Board (CEB), representing 31 UN agencies including the Office on Drugs and Crime, had adopted a position calling on member states to adopt science-based, health-oriented approaches to drug policy—namely decriminalization. The policy shift came in January, but was not publicly announced.

Israel’s Netanyahu Says He’s Open to Marijuana Legalization. Faced with a party that advocates marijuana legalization gaining momentum in the weeks before national elections, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday he was looking into legalizing it himself. Younger voters have been drifting toward support for the Zehut Party before the April 9 elections.

UN Reports Methamphetamine Production Skyrocketing in Southeast Asia. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime reported Monday that methamphetamine production in Southeast Asia is booming, with prices dropping and usage expanding even as seizures hit record highs. "Data on seizures, prices, use, and treatment all point to continuing expansion of the methamphetamine market in East and Southeast Asia," said Tun Nay Soe, the agency's inter-regional program coordinator. "The shift to methamphetamine has affected even countries traditionally known to have a relatively large market for heroin, such as China and Malaysia,” he added. “In Malaysia, the number of methamphetamine users detected by law enforcement authorities surpassed that of heroin users for the first time in 2017."

The Land of Enchantment is on the verge of becoming even more enchanting. (Creative Commons)

Marijuana Policy

Reps. Tulsi Gabbard, Don Young File Bill to End Federal Pot Prohibition. Democratic presidential contender Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) has partnered with Rep. Don Young (R-AK) to file a bill to remove marijuana from the list of federally controlled substances. The Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act would leave marijuana policy to the states. The bipartisan pair of legislators also filed the Marijuana Data Collection Act, which would evaluate the effects of marijuana legalization in states that have already legalized it. Neither of the bills is yet available on the congressional website.

Hawaii House Approves Decriminalization Bill. The House last Thursday passed HB 1383, which would decriminalize the possession of up to three grams of weed. Under current state law, possession is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail. The bill would also expunge criminal convictions for people caught with less than three grams in the past. It now goes to the Senate.

New Mexico House Approves Legalization Bill. The House voted last Thursday to approve HB 356, which would legalize marijuana for adults and set up a system of taxed and regulated production and sales. The bill now heads to the Senate, where progress is possible but faces a ticking clock. The session ends on Thursday.

New Mexico Senate Committee Approves Legalization Bill. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Saturday approved SB 577, the companion bill to the legalization bill approved by the House. The bill must still get through two more committees and a floor vote by Thursday to pass because the session ends then.

Medical Marijuana

Florida Senate Approves Bill Allowing Smokable Medical Marijuana. The Senate last Thursday overwhelmingly approved SB 182, which would repeal the legislature's ban on smokable medical marijuana. The effort is being pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who has vowed to act if the legislature fails to. The measure now goes to the House, which must approve it by Friday or DeSantis will drop the state's appeal of a lower court ruling ending the ban.

Drug Policy

House Democrats Blast Trump Administration's Lack of National Drug Control Strategy. Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee blasted the Trump administration for failing to release a drug control strategy in either 2017 or 2018, even as the nation battled the opioid crisis. "It is absolutely inexcusable that the administration did not bother to issue a National Drug Control Strategy during the first two years that he was in office," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY). "More than 70,000 Americans have died from drug overdoses in 2017 alone," she said. "As many as 140,000 Americans have died from overdoses in the first two years of the Trump administration."

Drug Testing

Alabama Bill Would Require Drug Testing for Food Stamps. Rep. James Haynes (R-District 23) has filed HB 3, which would require applicants for food stamps to be screened for possible drug use and subjected to pre-approval drug testing if there is a "reasonable suspicion that the person uses or is under the influence of a drug." That reasonable suspicion would include having a drug conviction within the previous five years. A first failed test would result in a warning a re-test. A failed second test would result in temporary ineligibility for food stamps. A third failed drug test would result in permanent ineligibility. The bill is currently before the House Judiciary Committee.

International

Colombia's Rightist President Wants to Return to Aerial Spraying of Coca Crops. President Ivan Duque has asked the country's Constitutional Court to ease restrictions on spraying coca crops with glyphosate, a weed killer that has been linked to cancer. Former President Juan Manuel Santos banned the use of glyphosate to destroy illegal crops after the World Health Organization classified it as a likely carcinogen. But Duque says that expanding coca production has consequences to significant for the country for the government to limit the tools it has available to fight the crop.

(This article was prepared by StoptheDrugWar.org's 501(c)(4) lobbying nonprofit, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also pays the cost of maintaining this website. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.)

An Arizona poll has its first majority for marijuana legalization, the South Dakota legislature passes a hemp bill, an Iowa bill to allow needle exchanges is moving, and more.

There could be hemp fields in South Dakota next year if the governor stays out of the way. (votehemp.org)

Marijuana Policy

Arizona Poll Has First Time Majority for Legalization. A new OH Predictive Insights poll has support for marijuana legalization in the state at 52%, the first time the poll has registered a majority for freeing the weed. In two 2016 OH Predictive Insights polls, only 43% supported legalization.

Maryland Legalization Bills Get Hearing. The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on two marijuana bills Wednesday. HB 656, sponsored by Del. Eric Luedtke (D), would allow adults 21 and older to grow, possess, and purchase marijuana. Legal possession would be limited to one ounce of buds and five grams of concentrate, and individuals could grow up to four plants at a time. HB 632, sponsored by Del. David Moon (D), would amend the state constitution to legalize marijuana for adult use -- which would require voters to approve the measure via a ballot question. No votes were taken, and supporters said they were aiming at 2020, but laying the groundwork now.

South Dakota Hemp Bill Passes But Faces Possible Veto. The state Senate voted Wednesday to approve HB 1191, which would legalize industrial hemp farming, on a vote of 21-14. The bill has already passed the House but will have to go back there to approve changes made in the Senate. Gov. Kristi Noem (R) doesn't like it, but legislators are hopeful enough of her concerns were addressed that she won't veto it. If she does, hemp will have to pick up three more yes votes in the Senate; it passed the House overwhelmingly.

Harm Reduction

Iowa Needle Exchange Bill Advances. A bill that would add the state to the list of 40 others that allow the harm reduction measure advanced just ahead of a critical deadline Wednesday, meaning it stays alive for the rest of the session. SF 500 would authorize a pilot program in five cities for five years.

Democratic presidential contenders begin staking out criminal justice reform positions, yet another poll has a national majority for marijuana legalization, the FDA approves ketamine for depression, and more.

Quinnipiac Poll Has Strong Support for Legalization. A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday has support for marijuana legalization at 60% nationwide, with only 33% opposed. An even larger number of respondents (63%) said old marijuana arrest records should be expunged.

Texas Decriminalization Bill Gets Hearing. The House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee held a hearing Monday on House Bill 63, which would decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. Rep. Joe Moody (D-El Paso) has been pushing the issue since 2015. No vote was taken.

Medical Marijuana

Georgia House Approves CBD Access Bill. The House on Tuesday approved HB 324, which would allow for the sale of CBD cannabis oil to patients through dispensaries. The state legalized CBD cannabis oil for medicinal use in 2015, but there is no legal way to buy, sell, or obtain it. This bill would fix that. It now heads to the Senate.

New Mexico Temporarily Boosts Plant Limits for Producers. The state health department issued an emergency rule last Friday to temporarily boost the number of plants producers can grow. The rule lifts the maximum from 450 plants to 2,500 plants through the end of August. The department will initiate a rule-making process to determine what the final plant count should be. The move comes amidst concerns over lack of supply.

Ketamine

FDA Approves Ketamine for Depression. The Food and Drug Administration approved a prescription treatment for depression that is derived from ketamine. The new treatment, called esketamine, is a nasal spray developed by Janssen Pharmaceuticals and will be sold under the brand name Spravato. The approval comes even as the FDA acknowledges that ketamine's anti-depressant properties are not well understood. Ketamine is an old anesthetic but has also been used as the club drug Special K in recent years.

Drug Policy

Beto O'Rourke Calls for Broad Drug, Criminal Justice Reforms. The Democratic presidential contender called for marijuana legalization and a "criminal justice system that is more fair and that urgently puts our country closer to the words written above the highest court in our land: equal justice under law" in an email to supporters this week. He also lambasted "the new Jim Crow" and the "school to prison pipeline," he said disproportionately targeted black children. He also called for an end to cash bail and the use of private prisons.

Bernie Sanders Calls for an End to the War on Drugs. In campaign rallies last weekend in Brooklyn and Chicago, the Vermont senator called for legalizing marijuana and ending the war on drugs, while calling for the need to address racial disparities in the emerging legal marijuana industry. "No more war on drugs that has destroyed so many lives," Sanders. "When we talk about criminal justice reform, we are going to change a system in which tens of thousands of Americans every year get criminal records for possessing marijuana, but not one major Wall Street executive went to jail for destroying our economy in 2008," he said. "No, they didn't go to jail, they got a trillion dollar bailout."

International

Colombia Coca Farmers Clash with Police. Farmers in Cordoba province's Alto Sinu region who are returning to coca cultivation after two years of waiting for economic and security assistance that never arrived clashed with riot police as they protested the national government's failure to support the shift to substitute crops. They said they had been left no choice but to go back to coca. Coca cultivation and cocaine production in Colombia has reached an all-time high, having risen to 171,000 hectares in 2017 from 48,000 in 2013.

(This article was prepared by StoptheDrugWar.org's 501(c)(4) lobbying nonprofit, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also pays the cost of maintaining this website. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.)

Hawaii says "aloha" to out of state patients, a Nebraska initiative campaign is getting underway, New Mexico expands grower plant limits, and more.

Georgia

Georgia House Approves CBD Access Bill. The House on Tuesday approved HB 324, which would allow for the sale of CBD cannabis oil to patients through dispensaries. The state legalized CBD cannabis oil for medicinal use in 2015, but there is no legal way to buy, sell, or obtain it. This bill would fix that. It now heads to the Senate.

Nebraska Medical Marijuana Initiative Cleared for Signature-Gathering. The secretary of state's office last Friday approved a medical marijuana initiative for signature gathering. The initiative would "amend the Nebraska Constitution to provide the rights to use, possess, access, and safely produce cannabis, and cannabis products and materials, for serious medical conditions as recommended by a physician or nurse practitioner," according to the ballot title. To qualify for the ballot, 10% of registered voters must sign the petition. It must also have signatures from at least five percent of registered voters in at least 38 out of the state's 93 counties.

New Mexico

New Mexico Temporarily Boosts Plant Limits for Producers. The state health department issued an emergency rule last Friday to temporarily boost the number of plants producers can grow. The rule lifts the maximum from 450 plants to 2,500 plants through the end of August. The department will initiate a rule-making process to determine what the final plant count should be. The move comes amidst concerns over lack of supply.

New Mexico Temporarily Boosts Plant Limits for Producers. The state health department issued an emergency rule last Friday to temporarily boost the number of plants producers can grow. The rule lifts the maximum from 450 plants to 2,500 plants through the end of August. The department will initiate a rule-making process to determine what the final plant count should be. The move comes amidst concerns over lack of supply.

No legal pakalolo for Hawaii this year, North Dakota sees its first medical marijuana dispensary, asset forfeiture reform advances in Michigan, and more.

The British Labor Party is calling for pilot safe injection sites like this one in Vancouver. (Creative Commons)

Marijuana Policy

Hawaii Legalization Bill Dies. A legalization bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader J. Kalani English (D) and cosponsored by half the Democrats in the Senate died last Friday after the Senate Health Committee did not schedule a meeting to hear any bills that day. Friday was the deadline for bills to be considered by the full Senate, so the inaction effectively killed the bill.

Vermont Senate Approves Legalizing Marijuana Sales. The state Senate last Friday approved S.54, which would establish a taxed and regulated market for legal marijuana sales. The bill now goes to the House. This is the sixth time the Senate has passed a tax and regulate proposal, only to see them die in the House. But this year, 40 House members are supporting H. 196, a separate legalization bill that is slightly different from the Senate bill.

Medical Marijuana

Nebraska Medical Marijuana Initiative Cleared for Signature-Gathering. The secretary of state's office last Friday approved a medical marijuana initiative for signature gathering. The initiative would "amend the Nebraska Constitution to provide the rights to use, possess, access, and safely produce cannabis, and cannabis products and materials, for serious medical conditions as recommended by a physician or nurse practitioner," according to the ballot title. To qualify for the ballot, 10% of registered voters must sign the petition. It must also have signatures from at least five percent of registered voters in at least 38 out of the state's 93 counties.

Michigan House Approves Asset Forfeiture Reform Package. Two weeks after the state Senate passed an asset forfeiture reform package that would end civil forfeiture unless the assets are worth more than $50,000, the House has now passed a similar package. The two bodies will meet in conference committee to hash out minor differences before sending the legislation to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D).

Utah Asset Forfeiture Reform Bill Killed in House Committee. A bill that would reform asset forfeiture practices in the state breezed through the Senate only to die last Friday in a House committee after the DEA and Utah narcotics officers blasted the bill. SB 109 would have required law enforcement to file cases only in state court to prevent police from giving cases to the feds to avoid state laws.

International

British Labor Party Calls for Safe Consumption Site Pilot Programs. The Labor Party has come out will a call for pilot programs for safe consumption sites. Calls for their introduction have grown louder as the United Kingdom grapples with its own overdose death crisis. Some 4,678 people died of drug overdoses in the kingdom last year.

A bill to end federal marijuana prohibition has been filed in the House and Senate, a Hawaii decriminalization bill advances, a New Mexico bill would attempt to aid drug-using pregnant women--not punish them--and more.

Federal Marijuana Justice Act Refiled. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) has refiled the Marijuana Justice Act, which would end federal prohibition by removing pot from the list of controlled substances. Cosponsors include other Democratic presidential contenders, such as Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Kamala Harris, (D-CA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT), as well as Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, who is considering a bid. In the House, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) filed identical legislation.

Florida Legalization Bills Filed. A pair of Democrats have filed a pair of linked marijuana legalization bills. Reps. Michael Grieco of Miami and Carlos Guillermo of Orlando filed HB 1117 and HB 1119. The former legalizes marijuana and sets up a system of regulated production and sales, while the latter provides for taxes and fees on the trade.

Hawaii Decriminalization Bill Advances. The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved HB 1383, which would decriminalize both marijuana possession and distribution, making them punishable only by a fine. The bill also provides for the expungement of previous marijuana offenses. It now heads for a House floor vote.

Medical Marijuana

South Carolina Medical Marijuana Bill Stalled. The Compassionate Care Act, SB 366, is stalled in the Senate, Senate Medical Affairs Subcommittee Chairman Tom Davis (R-Beaufort) said after a hearing Wednesday. He said that after hearing from stakeholders, lawmakers want to amend the bill and hold it in committee until they have several more hearings.

Pregnancy

New Mexico Bill Would Aid Drug-Using Pregnant Women, Not Punish Them. Rep. Christine Trujillo (D-Albuquerque) has filed HB 230, which would shift the way the state reports child abuse when a woman tests positive for drugs during pregnancy. Instead of immediately notifying authorities that a woman is using drugs during pregnancy, state organizations would create a "Plan of Safe Care" that would provide guidelines for preventing future drug use in hope of delivering healthy babies. The bill has already passed the House Health and Human Services Committee but faced a tough House Judiciary Committee Wednesday.

International

Switzerland Could Let Up to 5,000 People Smoke Pot Legally for Studies. The Swiss government said Thursday it could let up to 5,000 people legal smoke marijuana in pilot studies aimed at shaping rules for recreational use of the drug. The cabinet has proposed limited pilot projects that could lead to a change in the country's ban on marijuana, which dates back to 1951. The plan will be open for public comment until midyear.

(This article was prepared by StoptheDrugWar.org's 501(c)(4) lobbying nonprofit, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also pays the cost of maintaining this website. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.)

It's busy, busy in state legislatures, the Michigan Court of Appeals rules against workers' rights, and more.

Arizona

Arizona House Committee Approves Bill to Protect Edibles, Extracts. The House Committee on Public Safety voted 5-2 Wednesday to approve HB 2149. The measure would specify that the 2010 voter-approved medical marijuana law also includes any products made from its resins. In a case pending before state courts, the state has argued that edibles and hashish are not included in the law.

Maryland Medical Marijuana Normalization Bills Get Senate Hearing. A raft of bills authored by Sen. Bobby Zirkin (D-Baltimore) and aimed at normalizing medical marijuana usage in the state got a Senate hearing Tuesday. One bill says medical marijuana patients should not be denied the right to purchase or possess firearms, another would prohibit landlords from denying leases to medical marijuana patients, and yet another would restrict employers’ right to fire or not hire medical marijuana users. No votes were taken.

Missouri Publishes First Draft Medical Marijuana Rules. The state Department of Health and Human Services has posted its first draft rules for the state medical marijuana system approved by voters in November 2018. The first batch of draft rules deals with requirements for ID cards for the program. There will be public hearings before the rules are finalized. The state has until June 4 to begin taking applications for ID cards.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire Medical Marijuana Home Grow Bill Advances. The House Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee voted to approve HB 364, which would allow medical marijuana patients to grow their own medicine. The bill called for allowing patients or caregivers to grow up to two mature plants and 12 seedlings but was amended in committee to allow up to three mature plants, three immature plants, and 12 seedlings.

The Granite State gets one step closer to marijuana legalization, Vermont gets one step closer to allowing taxed and regulated legal marijuana sales, West Virginia gets one step closer to speeding up overdose reporting requirements, and more.

New England is a real hotbed of marijuana-related legislation these days. (Creative Commons)

Marijuana Policy

New Hampshire House Passes Marijuana Legalization Bill. A bill to end marijuana prohibition and regulate it for adult use was approved by the House in a 209-147 vote Wednesday. in New Hampshire passed in the state House of Representatives Wednesday with a strong majority (209-147). HB 481 will now be referred to the House Ways and Means Committee for further consideration of the proposed regulatory system and tax structure. If the bill gets through the legislature, it faces a veto threat from Gov. Chris Sununu (R).

Vermont Bill to Tax and Regulate Marijuana Sales Heads for Senate Floor Vote. Vermont legalized personal marijuana possession and cultivation last year, and now a bill that would expand legalization to include taxed and regulated marijuana sales is headed for a Senate floor vote after passing out of committee Tuesday. SB 54 would create a Cannabis Control Board to regulate the legal marijuana market and set up five types of licenses for various businesses. Similar legislation, HB 196, is before the House Committee on General, Housing and Military Affairs.

Medical Marijuana

Maryland Medical Marijuana Normalization Bills Get Senate Hearing. A raft of bills authored by Sen. Bobby Zirkin (D-Baltimore) and aimed at normalizing medical marijuana usage in the state got a Senate hearing Tuesday. One bill says medical marijuana patients should not be denied the right to purchase or possess firearms, another would prohibit landlords from denying leases to medical marijuana patients, and yet another would restrict employers’ right to fire or not hire medical marijuana users. No votes were taken.

New Hampshire Medical Marijuana Home Grow Bill Advances. The House Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee voted to approve HB 364, which would allow medical marijuana patients to grow their own medicine. The bill called for allowing patients or caregivers to grow up to two mature plants and 12 seedlings but was amended in committee to allow up to three mature plants, three immature plants, and 12 seedlings.

A year-long bombing campaign that pitted some of America's most high-tech Air Force fighter jets against primitive Taliban "heroin labs" has quietly ended after failing to achieve much of anything, according to the latest report on continuing US operations in Afghanistan from the Defense Department's inspector general.

The campaign, dubbed Operation Iron Tempest, was only the latest iteration of America's endless and fruitless effort to suppress the country's opium economy, which has delivered hundreds of millions of dollars a year into the hands of the Taliban and corrupt Afghan officials alike. Since the U.S. invaded in 2001, American taxpayers have forked out nearly $9 billion to fight Afghan opium, yet Afghanistan continues to produce the vast majority -- about 85 percent -- of the global opium supply.

Despite all those counter-narcotics dollars, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime reported opium production at record highs in the last years, with more than 6,400 tons of raw opium produced last year. Iron Tempest didn't make much of a dent in it.

As part of the Trump administration's bid to look tough against both drugs and the Taliban, Iron Tempest was unleashed in November 2017 with F-22 stealth fighters and B-52 strategic bombers deploying 250- and 500-pound bombs against nondescript buildings in the Afghan hinterlands. Those F-22s, designed to be deployed against the most advanced aircraft in the world, cost $35,000 per flight hour, and they were used to blow up the barrels, tubes, and piles of raw material that constitute Afghan "heroin labs."

But hundreds of air strikes against what U.S. commanders estimated were 500 "heroin labs" operated by the Taliban failed to put a serious dent in the trade. In fact, they probably hurt Afghan security and political figures involved in the opium trade more than they hurt the Taliban.

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) reported in January that while the air strikes had deprived the Taliban of an estimated $42 million (out of its estimated annual take from the opium trade of $200 million), while unspecified others "involved in the illegal drug trade in Afghanistan" lost $200 million. (The estimated value of the opium crop alone is above $1 billion a year when prices are high; but additional profits come from taxes on the trade and the value added by processing the raw opium into more profitable heroin.)

But the numbers on the economic pain caused the Taliban are iffy, SIGAR conceded. It was difficult to weigh the actual financial impact because "no ground verification takes place to weigh and assess the amounts of the precursors or products actually destroyed by an airstrike."

That same January SIGAR report quietly noted the end of Iron Tempest. As evidence mounted that the campaign was ineffective, the number of air raids dwindled. In the last three months of 2018, only two air strikes took place, marking the end of the campaign. Operation Iron Tempest had gone out not with a bang, but with a whimper.

That could be the epitaph for the entire American adventure in Afghanistan. After nearly two decades of invasion and occupation, Trump administration officials are now engaged in direct peace talks with the Taliban that could lead to Afghan coalition government including the Taliban and the final withdrawal of American forces.

San Francisco moves to expunge more than 9,000 pot convictions, Rhode Island's attorney general wants to defelonize drug possession, Peruvian farmers are leaving the coffee fields for the coca fields, and more.

Marijuana Policy

Baltimore Mayor Pressed to End Marijuana Arrests. Fourteen local advocacy groups have sent a letter to Mayor Catherine Pugh urging her to direct the police commissioner to stop arresting people for small-time pot offenses. The letter comes after Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced a new policy of not prosecuting such cases, only to have interim Police Commissioner Gary Tuggle, a former DEA agent, refused to order police to stop making the arrests. Tuggle is gone now, but it's unclear what his replacement, Michael Harrison, will do, thus the letter to the mayor urging her to lead on the issue.

San Francisco Will Expunge More Than 9,000 Marijuana Convictions. City prosecutors announced Monday that they would move to expunge some 9,300 marijuana possession convictions dating back to 1976. The move comes after a yearlong review of pot convictions in the city. The effort was bolstered by the city's decision to work with a Code for America, a nonprofit that uses technology to make government more efficient. Coders created an algorithm that combed through the city's decades worth of criminal records in minutes—and automatically filled out the required forms to be turned in during the expungement process.

Medical Marijuana

Missouri Publishes First Draft Medical Marijuana Rules. The state Department of Health and Human Services has posted its first draft rules for the state medical marijuana system approved by voters in November 2018. The first batch of draft rules deals with requirements for ID cards for the program. There will be public hearings before the rules are finalized. The state has until June 4 to begin taking applications for ID cards.

Treatment

West Virginia House Approves Drug Treatment Bills. The House on Monday passed two bills related to drug treatment and amended a third. HB 3132 exempts certain providers from some of the medication-assisted treatment licensing requirements. HB 3133 would mandate that probationers with history or symptoms of addiction to attend support services for at least 60 days. The bill that was amended was HB 2991, which authorizes the continuation of an addiction prevention and recovery fund. That bill requires any proceeds from settlements with drug manufacturers or distributors to go into the fund; the amendment would allow state agencies to recover reasonable administrative costs.

Sentencing

Rhode Island Attorney General Plans Bill to Defelonize Drug Possession. State Attorney General Peter Neronha has announced plans to introduce legislation that would make possession of up to an ounce of any drug other than marijuana a misdemeanor. "There is a significant difference between those who traffic in drugs and those who possess them," explained Neronha at a press conference at the attorney general’s office in Cranston. "I learned how difficult it is for somebody getting out of prison, or somebody with a felony conviction to get back into the workforce. To get housing. To get back on their feet," he said.

International

UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs Delays Vote on WHO Marijuana Rescheduling Recommendation. The Commission on Narcotic Drugs will not vote on the World Health Organization's marijuana recommendations during its March session in Vienna That news comes after the release of the recommendations, which had been expected in December, was delayed. Several counties asked for more time to consider the recommendations saying they only received the rescheduling recommendation in late January. If the recommendations had come out in time, countries would have had three months to study them before the Vienna meeting.

Peru Farmers Are Abandoning Coffee Crops to Work in Coca Fields. Slumping coffee prices and delays in certifying organic beans are pushing Peruvian coffee growers out of the business and into the coca fields, the country's main coffee growers' association said Monday The Junta Nacional del Café said farmers started migrating to coca growing regions in December and hundreds have since abandoned their coffee fields. "Coffee ... exports are in real trouble, and we lack the support of the government with clear actions to overcome them," said the JNC’s head, Tomas Cordova. "This foments poverty, unemployment and the expansion of illegal crops."

In New Mexico, a pair of competing marijuana legalization bills are advancing; meanwhile, in Old Mexico, the Supreme Court takes the country another step down the path to legalization, and more.

Marijuana Policy

Amy Klobuchar Joins the Democratic Pack in Supporting Legalization. The Minnesota senator has now joined most other Democratic presidential contenders in embracing marijuana legalization. Sens. Bernie Sanders (VT), Cory Booker (NJ), Kamala Harris (CA), and Kristen Gillibrand (NY) have also come out for legalization. Klobuchar joined them with this statement last Friday: "I support the legalization of marijuana and believe that states should have the right to determine the best approach to marijuana within their borders."

New Mexico Legalization Bills Advance. A legalization bill, HB 356, is headed for a House floor vote after the House Judiciary Committee approved it on a 7-3 vote Saturday. Meanwhile, another legalization bill, SB 577, passed out of the Senate Public Affairs Committee with no recommendation and must pass out of two more committees before heading for a floor vote. The Senate bill would have marijuana sold through state-run stores, while the House bill would leave it to private operators.

Oregon Social Consumption Bill Gets Hearing Tuesday. A bill that would legalize social consumption lounges and allow marijuana farm tours will get a hearing in the Senate Tuesday. SB 639 would bar temporary events and marijuana lounges from being within 1,000 feet of a school. The hearing will be before the Senate Committee on Business and General Government.

International

Mexico Supreme Court Injunctions Trigger Ruling Marijuana Ban is Unconstitutional. The Supreme Court last Friday published eight rulings on the recreational use of marijuana that found prohibiting the drug was unconstitutional. The move means that as of now, all Mexican federal judges must grant injunctions to people who seek to use pot recreationally allowing them to grow and possess it for personal use. The court notified the Congress on February 13 that it had approved the rulings, triggering a 90-day window for lawmakers to try to come up with a marijuana legalization law.

Peru Approves Regulations for Medical Marijuana. Some 15 months after the legislature approved medical marijuana, regulations to cover its production and use were published in the official gazette on Saturday. The regulations cover guidelines and procedures for research, farming and production limits, importation,

(This article was prepared by StoptheDrugWar.org's 501(c)(4) lobbying nonprofit, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also pays the cost of maintaining this website. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.)

In the past few years, the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl and its derivatives have been the primary driver of the drug overdose death epidemic. A wave of addiction that began with prescription opioids two decades ago and morphed into one driven by heroin after the crackdown on pain pills one decade ago has now clearly entered a third phase: the era of fentanyl.

Pharmaceutical heroin. (Creative Commons)

Beginning in about 2014, fentanyl-related overdose death rates skyrocketed as Chinese chemical manufacturers and Mexican drug distribution gangs began flooding the country with the cheap, easily concealable narcotic—and not through unwalled borders but through points of entry and package delivery services, including the U.S. Postal Service. By 2017, fentanyl was implicated in some 28,000 overdose deaths, more than either heroin or prescription opioids, and involved in nearly half of all overdose deaths.

The responses have ranged from the repressive to the pragmatic. Some state and federal legislation seeks a harsher criminal justice system response, whether it's increasing penalties for fentanyl trafficking or charging hapless drug sharers with murder if the person they shared with dies. In other cases, the opioid epidemic has emboldened harm reduction-based policies, such as the calls for safe injection sites in cities such as Denver, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle.

Just a couple of hours up the road from Seattle, Vancouver, British Columbia, has been grappling with the same wave of opioid addiction and now, the arrival of fentanyl. And it has arrived with a real wallop: According to the British Columbia Coroner’s Service, fentanyl was implicated in 85 percent of overdose deaths in the province last year, up from only four percent just six years earlier. And with the arrival of fentanyl and, in 2016, its cousin, carfentanil, overdose deaths in B.C. jumped more than four-fold in that same period, from 333 in 2012 to 1,489 in 2018.

But while American cities are just now moving toward opening safe injection sites, Vancouver has had them for years, part of the city’s embrace of the progressive Four Pillars strategy—prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and enforcement—of dealing with problems around drug misuse and addiction. In fact, more than a dozen safe injection sites are now operating in the city, as well as a couple of programs that involve providing pharmaceutical grade heroin or other opioids to hard-core addicts who have proven unamenable to traditional forms of treatment.

Such harm reduction programs have not prevented all overdose deaths, but they have radically reduced the toll. B.C. Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe has estimated that without those programs, B.C. would have seen triple the number of fatal overdoses.

Vancouver has been on the cutting edge of progressive drug policy reforms for the past 20 years, and now, faced with the fentanyl crisis, some researchers are proposing a radical next step: heroin buyers’ clubs.

In a report published last week, the B.C. Center on Substance Use, which has strong ties to the provincial government, called for the clubs as part of a broader plan for "legally regulated heroin sales in B.C." to protect users from fentanyl-adulterated heroin and cut the profits of organized crime.

The proposal "is inspired by cannabis compassion clubs and buyers' clubs, both of which emerged in the 1980s and 1990s in response to the AIDS epidemic," the authors note.

"The compassion or buyers' club would function as a cooperative (or ‘co-op’), as an autonomous and democratic enterprise owned and operated by its members," the report explains. "A member-driven purchasing cooperative is an arrangement among businesses or individuals whereby members agree to aggregate their demand in order to purchase a certain product at a lower price from a supplier," it continues. "By aggregating their purchase orders and relevant resources, members are able to take advantage of volume discounts, price protection, shared storage and distribution facilities and costs, and other economies of scale to reduce their overall purchasing costs."

It wouldn't exactly be the Dallas Buyers Club, the 2013 film that portrayed unorthodox methods of obtaining AIDS medications in the 1980s. There would be some structure: To be accepted into the club, people addicted to opioids would have to undergo a medical evaluation, and once admitted to the club, they would still have to buy their own heroin, but with many advantages over buying black market dope. The main advantage would be that they would be receiving pure, pharmaceutical grade heroin (known as diacetylmorphine in countries where it is part of the pharmacopeia)—not an unknown substance that is likely to contain fentanyl.

Club members could inject the drug at a designated location—the report suggests that existing safe injection sites could be used—or take small amounts of the drug with them for consumption at home. The report also calls for each club to include related services, such as overdose response training, access to the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone, and options for members to access social services such as detox, rehab, and other treatment options.

Not only could buyers' clubs create a safer, cheaper heroin-using experience for members, the report argues, but they could also erode the black market and its tendency to produce more potent drugs—the so-called Iron Law of Prohibition.

"Fentanyl adulteration in the illicit drug supply is a predictable unintended consequence of drug prohibition," the report concludes. "The same forces that pushed the market away from relatively bulky opium towards heroin, a more concentrated opioid that was easier to transport clandestinely, have continued to push the opioid market to increasingly potent synthetic opioids, including a range of fentanyl analogs. A cooperative could undermine the illegal market wherever it is set up."

Such a plan faces legal and political challenges in Canada, but those can be overcome if the provincial and federal governments get on board. Obstacles to such a plan being rolled out in the United States are even greater, especially given an administration hostile toward harm reduction in general that would most likely view legal heroin sales as anathema.

But here in the U.S., we're a decade or so behind Vancouver when it comes to progressive drug policies, so it's time to get the conversation started. After all, these sorts of approaches to the problem are likely to be more effective than throwing addicts in jail or building boondoggle border walls.

This article was produced by Drug Reporter, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

February 24 is an important day. Two years ago, President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines unjustly imprisoned Senator Leila de Lima, who had dared to challenge Duterte for his drug war killings, which now may number as many as 28,000.

Today, not only is de Lima still behind bars, Duterte's trying to jail another senator as well a newspaper publisher. He's promising to make the drug war even more deadly during the remaining three years of his term. And he's withdrawn the Philippines from the International Criminal Court treaty – but that won't stop him from one day facing justice for the crimes he's already committed.

This February 24 (this Sunday), we will call again for Senator de Lima's release. And we announce the launching of "Stand with Human Rights and Democracy: Global Campaign for the Philippines," a worldwide partnership to address this human rights crisis.

Join us if you can in Washington, DC, 4:00-5:00pm on Sunday February 24, for our protest at the Embassy of the Philippines, 1600 Massachusetts Ave. NW. When we protested there a year ago, the video went viral in the Philippines, sending the message that the world is watching. Please RSVP on our Event page, to let your friends know and to encourage others to join us.

Click here to read about that action and watch the video. Along with the oversized Duterte and de Lima masks used in our street theater last year, we've added two new figures, Rappler publisher Maria Ressa (a TIME Person of the Year) and Senator Antonio Trillanes. It's going to be a good show, and we need your help.

Whether you can join us or not, please spread the word on social media. Click here for a folder of images with sample text to post. And if you want to do more to protest this, check out our protest action resources kit too.

February 24 is important. The loss of life in Duterte's drug war is bad enough, but the brazenness with which he's doing this is having international ramifications. The killings have spread to some countries already, and it's affecting the climate in more. Other human rights violations are on the rise in the Philippines too. Meanwhile, the Kremlin disinformation machine is supporting and campaigning for Duterte, in the Philippines and internationally.

If a dictatorship gets established in the Philippines, there's no telling how far the killings could go. That's why we're asking you to stand with human rights and democracy, and with our allies in the Philippines working for justice and a better drug policy.

U.S. Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), representing Maryland's Eastern Shore, has quite a reputation among marijuana reform activists—and not a good one. For years, Harris has done everything he can to block progressive reforms and has hamstrung the District of Columbia's efforts to bring full pot legalization—meaning taxed and regulated sales, not just the legalization of possession and cultivation—to the nation's capital.

vindictive anti-marijuana Rep. Andy Harris (house.gov)

But his latest nasty stunt only solidifies his reputation as not only a foe of marijuana law reform but as a first-class vindictive jerk. After a contentious protest last October led by local marijuana activists fed up with Harris's interference in D.C. home rule, staffers and activists set up a meeting at Harris's congressional office.

Among those attending was Salisbury University student activist Jake Burdett. Burdett briefly live-streamed part of the meeting without seeking anyone's permission—a violation of Maryland's "all-party consent" law requiring that any recordings only take place with the knowledge of the individuals involved.

According to Maryland Marijuana Justice (MDMJ), the activist group of which Burdett is a member, the student was not aware of the state law regarding recordings, and when he was made aware of it after the meeting, he apologized to the staffer involved and deleted the live stream the next day.

Harris could have accepted Burdett's moves to atone for his innocent misdeed. Instead, he pressed felony charges against him—for revealing to the public what a public servant was saying in a government office on government time.

Adam Eidinger, the D.C. activist who led the successful 2014 legalization initiative and who grew so irritated with Harris's interference in D.C. home rule that he moved to Harris's district and co-founded MDMJ, is calling him out on it.

"Jake, who is a serious student leader, has a bright political future ahead of him that Representative Andy Harris wants to tarnish. In his honest attempt to provide the public with transparency into actions of a Congressional office that regularly insults marijuana reformers with false accusations, Jake’s live stream served as a conduit for the public to witness the endemic corruption in Salisbury," he said in a statement.

"By deciding to throw the book at Mr. Burdett for an honest mistake, one that was fixed almost immediately, it shows how partisan and petty Congressman Harris has become. He clearly wants to chill citizen participation in government, Eidinger added.

MDMJ co-founder Kris Furnish also weighed in on Burdett's behalf.

"Is it unreasonable for a 20-year-old to think that it’s legal to record a staffer of a United States Congressman in a public space? In a society that supposedly values transparency in government, I do find it odd that Jake can be found guilty of the ‘crime’ of recording the staff of elected government representatives in a taxpayer-funded space," he said.

"Rep. Harris wants to pretend to be victimized by a 20-year-old’s deleted live stream, while he supports the racist war on drugs that actually victimizes thousands of people a day by locking them up for the victimless crime of smoking marijuana, a non-addictive substance with many medicinal benefits."

Harris's hostility toward Burdett and the other MDMJ activists is matched only by his hostility toward their cause. Named by Forbes as one of the five worst House representatives on marijuana policy, Harris has used his position on the House Appropriations Committee, which has authority over District of Columbia spending, to try to block the D.C. Council from decriminalizing pot possession, a move that led the city's non-voting delegate to Congress, Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) to call him "a tyrant."

When District voters approved marijuana legalization at the ballot box in 2014, Harris was on hand again to try again to throw up obstacles couldn't stop the city from ending marijuana prohibition, but he and his Republican colleagues in the House were able to block the District from regulating commercial sales.

It's not just that he doesn't believe in changing the marijuana laws; he has repeatedly evidenced a vindictive streak. When D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) allowed the legalization vote to go into effect despite objections from Republicans in Congress, Harris said she should be locked up, In remarks made before the 2016 elections, Harris said if a Republican won the White House, he hoped he would prosecute the D.C. mayor: "You have to wait for the next administration. It’s a five-year statute of limitations," Harris said. "All I can say is we’ll gather all the information. Maybe next the attorney general actually wants to enforce the law."

He also isn't a fan of democracy in the District: "We don’t take lightly interfering in D.C. home rule, but when they make clearly bad decisions…. This is where I think D.C. made a bad decision about its own rule and we have — the Congress has — the ultimate authority."

Harris's vindictiveness wasn't aimed just at D.C., though; he also wanted to crack down on states whose voters had democratically chosen to legalize marijuana. "It is illegal under the law. This is an example of the administration not wanting to enforce the law," he said.

Harris is a big fan of enforcing the law. In fact, he's such a big fan that he using the law to hammer down an uppity student activist who irritated—but did not harm—him or his staff.

Florida Criminal Justice Reform Bill Would End Mandatory Minimums. A sweeping criminal justice reform bill that includes ending mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses has been introduced in the Senate. SB 642, the Florida First Step Act must get past the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Senate Criminal Justice Committee before heading for a Senate floor vote.

International

British Columbia Plan for "Heroin Buyers Club" Unveiled. The BC Center of Substance Abuse Thursday unveiled a plan to create a heroin buyers club to sell pure, regulated heroin to people addicted to opioids. The cooperative group would buy bulk medical grade heroin from Switzerland to sell to doctor-assessed club members. The plan is part of the effort to stem overdoses in Vancouver. Informal heroin buyers clubs are reportedly already operating in the city, but their supplies are iffy.

Mexican Senate Approves Plan for New National Guard to Fight Crime, Drugs. The Senate on Thursday approved President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s plan to create a new national guard, a key part of the government’s strategy to address drug gang violence. But the Senate amended the legislation to ensure that the new security force is headed by civilians, not the military, which has been linked to numerous human rights violations.

Philippines President Vows "Harsher" Drug War in Coming Days. President Rodrigo Duterte vowed to ramp up his bloody anti-drug campaign in a speech Wednesday. The war on drugs will be "harsher in the days to come," he said. When asked by reporters if the crackdown would be even bloodier, he said: "I think so." The remarks were condemned by the Philippine Commission on Human Rights: "With thousands that have already been killed because of this campaign, ‘harsh’ is an understatement and a trivialization of the lives that were lost—it is irreversible and the suffering of families of victims can be lifelong," Jacqueline De Guia, CHR spokesperson, said. "To say that it will be ‘harsher’ insults the victims and their families while the drug trade has not seemingly waned."

The fallout from that fatal January Houston drug raid continues, a New Hampshire pot legalization bill advances, so does a Florida bill to allow smokable medical marijuana, and more.

This could be legal soon in New Hampshire if that marijuana legalization bill keeps moving. (IRIN)

Marijuana Policy

Illinois Governor Uses Budget Address to Call for Legalization. As he unveiled his first annual budget Wednesday, Gov. J,B. Pritzker called for marijuana legalization and taxation to help pay for $1.1 billion in new spending. He also called for the legalization and taxation of sports betting, as well as raising money with new taxes on plastic bags, e-cigs, and raising the cigarette tax.

New Hampshire Legalization Bill Narrowly Wins House Committee Vote. The House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee voted 10-9 to recommend passage of HB 481, which would legalize up to an ounce for adults and create a system of taxed and regulated sales. Adults could also grow up to six plants. The narrow margin of victory in committee suggests a tough fight to pass it on the House floor.

Arizona House Committee Approves Bill to Protect Edibles, Extracts. The House Committee on Public Safety voted 5-2 Wednesday to approve HB 2149. The measure would specify that the 2010 voter-approved medical marijuana law also includes any products made from its resins. In a case pending before state courts, the state has argued that edibles and hashish are not included in the law.

North Dakota House Approves Civil Asset Forfeiture Bill. The House on Wednesday approved a civil asset forfeiture reform bill on a 57-33 vote. HB 1286 would not end civil asset forfeiture, but would raise the standard of proof from "a preponderance" of the evidence to "clear and compelling evidence." It would also require a criminal conviction before civil asset forfeiture could proceed. The bill now goes to the Senate, which defeated similar legislation in 2017.

Law Enforcement

Two House Republicans Urge State Department to Label Cartels as Terrorist Organizations. A pair of conservative House Republicans, Reps. Mark Green (TN) and Chip Roy (TX), sent a letter Wednesday to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking the State Department to label drug cartels as terrorist organizations. The proposal would "further stigmatize these groups both at home and abroad," the pair wrote. "These cartels have utilized barbaric tactics including those adopted by [the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria] ISIS and al Qaeda – murdering and torturing innocents, destabilizing countries and assassinating members of law enforcement," Green added in a statement. Drug cartels differ from terrorist organizations, though, in that they have no political agenda (other than being left alone to go about their business), a key component of the definition of terrorism.

FBI Opens Civil Rights Investigation into Deadly Houston Drug Raid. The FBI has opened a civil rights investigation into a January drug raid in Houston that left two people dead and five police officers wounded. The raid was based on falsified search warrant affidavits claiming informants had bought heroin at the house, but the homeowners, who were killed, possessed no heroin at all—only small, personal use amounts of marijuana and possibly cocaine. The fallout from the case has already resulted in one officer being suspended, an end to no-knock raids in the city, and the review of more than 1,400 cases linked to the lying officer.